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, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:38:57
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You certainly make very valid points. Your assumptions, however, may not be true for everyone.
1. New cars are better than old cars
This is the one thing that bothers me in current market. I had been looking to replace my 1986 900 with a new car. Neither I, nor my wife like ANY of the new cars currently on the market. The one car that we do like a lot is the MINI. However, it has become impractical for us due to growing family.
Most new cars we have looked at we did not like one bit. As an example, the new 9-3SS interior is rather poor compared to NG900/OG9-3. Hard plastic, low rear seat cushion, tasteless color combinations, less comfortable seats, no cloth option.
We finally found an acceptable replacement in the form of a 2003 325i with 5 speed and sport package. However, we disliked the 2006+ 325i due to various reasons, including absence of manual transmission cars at BMW dealers.
That is actually true for many other makes. Manual gearbox is becoming a rare sight on dealer lots these days. And that's another reason to prefer used. Especially in this market segment.
2. Warranty coverage is important.
Years ago I almost had a fatal crash at high speed due to poor repairs performed under warranty. Having gone through the exercise of trying to prove who is responsible for mistakes made by dealers when performing warranty repairs, I pledged to never have other people working on my vehicles. So now I do my own repairs even when the car is still under warranty. Screw the warranty, my life is worth more. I don't care what kind of warranty the manufacturer offers because I do not use their service after I buy the car. I have my own two hands, a head on my shoulders and more skills than the crooks they hire at the dealership.
3. Need to spend $30k on a car.
I would never spend that much money on a car. I can certainly afford to do it. But I fail to see the logic of sinking $30k into a quickly depreciating asset. My comfort zone is around $10k. $10k should buy you a very nice car that will last for 10 years or longer. People spend $50k on POS trucks that are inferior to perfectly good $5k cars. They certainly cannot afford these $50k trucks. The only reason they can drive them is because they can lease. Years ago very few people could afford a "luxury" car. These days every unemployed junkie with maxed out credit cars drives a $40k Lexus. I carry no balance on my credit cards.
4. Buy / trade every 4-6 years.
Sure, if you buy new and then trade every few years, you can hurt financially. But why do that? Cars are so reliable these days. Spend a little time and effort finding the right car and you can drive it for 20 years with minimal hassle. And you sure don't need to buy from a dealer. Sell to a private person and buy from a private person. Buying from a private person allows you to gauge the single most important thing about your future vehicle -- what kind of life it had with its previous owner. If you don't like the owner, don't buy the car. It's as simple as that. And selling to a private party will fetch a higher price every time. And you may enjoy the process, too. I see absolutely no point in paying hefty markup at the dealer. On top of paying a higher price, you never meet the previous owner, which to me is by far the most important indicator of vehicle's worth.
5. Purchasing a lease return.
This is a BIG no-no. I would never purchase a lease return. Only a well taken care of car from original owner. Lease people rarely take care of their car precisely because it is NOT their car. They do the barest minimum maintenance and in general are very careless. Lease returns are simply not smart buys, at any price.
6. Maintenance and wear issues at 50-75k miles.
I have kept my cars for well over 100k miles and have never had any maintenance and wear issues. Especially cars like SAABs that are so much fun to work on. What issues? Parts are cheap; information is plentiful with the Internet. Choose a durable car and enjoy worry free driving for several hundred thousand miles. Easy. My 1986 had over 300k miles on it when I sold it. It was still perfect – fast, cool, comfortable, cheap to own. I would have kept it longer if I did not need four doors.
posted by 12.198.2...
, Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:36:22, Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:34:00, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:27:11, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:46:41, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:48:54
, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:18:10, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:38:57, Wed, 7 Feb 2007 19:24:29, Tue, 6 Feb 2007 14:37:57, Fri, 2 Feb 2007 19:00:53, Thu, 1 Feb 2007 13:23:54, Fri, 2 Feb 2007 19:02:09, Sat, 3 Feb 2007 08:44:06, Sat, 3 Feb 2007 17:22:51, Sat, 3 Feb 2007 22:22:34, Wed, 7 Feb 2007 16:35:48
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